A decent proposal: Men come up with creative ways to pop the question

Jul. 20, 2010

The Reporter photo illustration by Justin Connaher

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The Reporter

Put a ring on it

Giving or receiving engagement rings is a great way of showing the entire world that you are in love. Some of the famous engagement rings worn by celebrities have set new trends in Hollywood that bigger is better. 1. Actress Elizabeth Taylor sported one of the biggest celebrity engagement rings in modern history, the ring given to her by third husband Mike Todd, weighing in at 29 carats. Todd was eclipsed in the gift-giving department, however, by fifth husband Richard Burton. Burton gave Taylor the 33-carat Krupp diamond. 2. Paris Hilton, the famous diva, was engaged to billionaire Paris Latsis with two famous engagement rings: a canary diamond ring of 24 carats worth $5 million and a white emerald-cut diamond ring of 15 carats worth $2.1 million. 3. Beyonce showed off her wedding bling given to her by fiancé Jay-Z, and 18-carat, $5 million ring.4. Nick Cannon presented a 17-carat, $2.5 million ring to his bride Mariah Carey.5. Hillary Duff’s fiancé clearly knows his ice whether he’s in a hockey rink or a jewelry store: the generous NHL star bought the Disney cutie a $1 million engagement ring.6. A platinum Cartier band crowned with two baguette diamonds embracing a 10.47-carat, emerald cut diamond sparkled with the promise of forever in January 1956 as Prince Rainier and Grace Kelly announced their intention to say “I do.” 8. The engagement to Catherine Zeta Jones was formalized by Michael Douglas with an antique marquise diamond of 10 carats with a horizontal set, worth $2 million. 9. When she became engaged to Prince Charles, Princess Diana received a stunning deep blue 8-carat sapphire surrounded by 14 round diamonds. 10. Jennifer Lopez started the run for colored diamonds when Ben Affleck presented her with a pink diamond ring worth $1.2 million. 11. Britney Spears actually bought herself her first engagement ring. After she gave birth to her first child, her husband, Kevin Federline, presented her with a 5.5-carat diamond set in platinum.12. Priscilla Presley received a diamond engagement ring of 3.5 carats, circled by diamond chips and 21 small diamonds, from Elvis.

SOURCE: hubpages.com

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Some men prefer the intimacy of a secluded, wooded trail while others are eager to proclaim their love from the mountaintops.

Whatever the setting, much creative plotting — and agonizing — goes into the simple, yet weighty, proposal of “Will you marry me?” After all, the hopes of a lifetime of happiness and the fear of rejection are all tied together in that simple question.

Luckily for men, most women are bowled over by their romantic overture and eagerly accept their proposal.

Bertie Steffes of Berlin said her marriage proposal was far from the fairy tale scenario she envisioned as a young girl. Although 60-plus years have slipped by, she still smiles at the memory of her beau popping the question in her father’s chicken coop.

“He had worked as a hired hand on our farm for years and I admired him from afar. One day while I was gathering eggs from the hens, he came inside the coop and asked if I was busy that weekend,” Steffes said. “I thought maybe he was working up the courage to ask me to a dance. I think I dropped my egg basket when he asked if I wanted to get married on Sunday. Believe it or not we got married and got back from our two-day honeymoon before the first crop of hay was ready to cut.”

Mission accomplished

Jim Nelson of Appleton accomplished his mission of making his marriage proposal a memorable affair when he popped the question high above the clouds over Texas. Prior to takeoff, he secretly asked the pilot to make a special announcement while in the air.

“He announced that the passenger in 12d would like to know if the passenger in 12e would marry him. My future wife-to-be responded by saying ‘I’m going to kill you!’ I asked her if I could take that as a yes,” Nelson said. “Everyone crowded around to wish us well and the flight crew gave us a bottle of champagne.”

In sickness and health

Proud of his Irish heritage, Amy Vollmer-Andrews’ fiancé was ready to ask for her hand in marriage at Irish Fest in Milwaukee in 2007. Unfortunately, a severe bout of diverticulitis upended his plans and instead sent the couple to an area hospital for emergency surgery.

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“While sitting in radiology, he did propose to me on two knees as he was doubled over in pain,” said the Sussex woman. “It was a harrowing time for us, but if we could make it work then, maybe you’ll see our picture in the paper in 2058 celebrating our golden anniversary.”

Woodland promises

Although they had picked out their rings together ahead of time, Mel Kolstad left the timing of the marriage proposal up to her husband-to-be.

“I actually forgot about the rings for awhile,” Kolstad said.

While walking through Hobbs Woods on a summer afternoon, Kolstad of Fond du Lac says her boyfriend was unusually quiet.

“Every now and then he would pick a leaf off a tree and tell me to close my eyes, that he had a surprise for me. When I opened my eyes it was a leaf, nothing else,” Kolstad said. “The fifth leaf seemed particularly heavy. When I opened my eyes, there was a handwritten note and inside was the engagement ring. I said ‘yes’ and then proceeded to bawl for 10 minutes.”

During a walk through a woods 14 years ago, Pam Kuechenberg of Fond du Lac picked up three hickory nuts along the trail. Showing them to her boyfriend, she announced the nuts represented three wishes for their future together.

A year later during another walk, her boyfriend handed her those same three nuts along with an engagement ring.

“On our wedding day, he had those same hickory nuts in his jacket pocket,” Kuechenberg said. “I still have them and take them out once in awhile and remember that special walk.”

On bended knee

Under the impression they were going out to dinner to celebrate her first day on her new job, Michelle Lepinsky of Lomira never suspected that her boyfriend had other plans. A secluded table adorned with rose petals and a vase of long-stemmed roses still didn’t tip her off to the importance of the occasion. When wait staff delivered to their table a salad plate holding a rose and small box, Lepinsky was clearly puzzled.

“My boyfriend took the box from me, opened it and got down on bended knee and asked me to marry him. He’s such a quiet guy, so I was just shocked to know he had planned all this,” she said. “I know I’ll never forget that day.”

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Sitting in a restaurant overlooking Times Square in New York City, Julie Horetzki was looking forward to attending an NFL game with her boyfriend — a huge New York Jets fan.

“It was there that he got down on one knee and popped the question,” Horetzki said. “I realized then that his nervousness wasn’t so much about flying but rather about asking me to marry him.”

When her boyfriend, TJ called two years ago and asked her to meet him at the lighthouse at Lakeside Park, Liz Severson of Fond du Lac knew what was coming, but she had no clue what awaited her at the popular landmark.

“When I walked into the lighthouse there were rose petals scattered on the steps leading all the way to the top, and on each landing was a bouquet of tulips — my favorite flower,” Severson said. “When I got to the top, there was TJ waiting for me holding a red rose. He got down on one knee and proposed. It was amazing.”

At the request of her boyfriend, Esperanza Medina drove over to the new house the couple was building to pick him up for an evening out with friends. When she got to the building site, she was puzzled to see the darkened house.

Inside, she found a fire crackling in the fireplace and candles flickering in the living room and kitchen area.

“He led me into the living room, said his magic, got down on one knee and proposed,” the Malone woman said. “I always thought I would cry but I was so excited and shocked that all I could say was ‘yes.’ He even asked my parents for permission. It was the perfect proposal.”

In the years since her husband proposed to her high atop the towers on Holy Hill, Rebecca Van Beek and her husband have shared the ups and downs of life, including the loss of a child.

“We really didn’t know how much that one day would mean in our lives,” said the Campbellsport woman. “We’ve held our family together and learned a lot in the past 12 years since we got engaged. But I wouldn’t have changed it for the world.”